The Possession And Lawless Top Labor Day Box Office

Two newcomers, The Possession and Lawless topped the overall box office over Labor Day weekend, ending a summer that ended with not much of a bang. Overall, the Summer theatrical season fell nearly 3% from last year, winding up at $4.275 billion (vs $4.4 billion). The Expendables 2, which had topped the box office for two weekends, made a landing in the third spot with only slightly less screens. Today's grosses reflect a Friday through Monday Labor Day weekend numbers. The per cent change in revenue vs. the previous weekend only considers Friday - Sunday numbers.
1. The Possession
Gross: $21.3 million
Screens: 2,816 (PSA: $7,564)
Week: 1

The end of the unofficial summer period proved softer than the beginning, though Lionsgate's The Possession ended The Expendables 2 two-week reign atop the box office with a solid $21.3 million opener over the Friday through Monday Labor Day weekend. Last year, late summer arrivals Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Help gave an end of season push with those two films alone grossing $286.8 million to the 2011 summer box office through Labor Day.

The Weinstein Company opted for a wide roll out of John Hillcoat's Cannes crime drama Lawless. Still with a bevy of stars including Shia LaBeouf, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman, the box office results weren't particularly spectacular.

After two weeks at number one, Expendables 2 skidded to the number three spot in its third weekend. The Friday - Sunday gross came in at $8.9 million for a 34% overall decline for the same days the previous weekend. The pic remained in nearly the same number of theaters vs. one week prior, which stood at 3,355 though the decline in screens likely indicates the title has piqued.

The Bourne Legacy settled at number four over Labor Day weekend after placing second the previous weekend. The Universal release lost 523 theaters though its screen average actually jumped over the previous week to $2,995 from $2,540 and its overall revenue drop was only 22% (in a straight Friday - Sunday comparison) despite the fairly steep loss of venues.

Paranorman lost 370 screens Labor Day weekend, but also saw its screen average rise to $2,858 over the previous weekend's $2,473. In a straight Friday - Sunday comparison, the title was only down 24% from the previous Friday - Sunday gross, not bad considering the decline in capacity.

Disney's The Odd Life of Timothy Green held steady in the sixth position in its third weekend. The title added 37 locations and its Friday - Sunday revenue dropped only 12% from the previous Friday - Sunday period.

The anti-Obama doc took on a good amount of extra capacity over the holiday weekend, adding 656 theaters. It's overall Friday - Sunday gross dropped 14% from the previous week. The title has now grossed more than Michael Moore's previous effort, Capitalism: A Love Story, which totaled $14,363,397 domestically.

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